The Buzz on Iván

MCBS rejoiced Tuesday as alumni Iván Emilio came back to Full Sail to speak at a panel regarding the importance of Latinx content online. Ivan works for BuzzFeed to create content targeted toward their Latin demographic. But how did he get from sitting in a class of 10 people, to working for the massive company of BuzzFeed? Ivan said he just started making content; he wanted to make videos, so that’s exactly what he did. He started with a single video that had Americans saying Puerto Rican slangs, which went viral. He did not stop with one video, but continued making content that he enjoyed. One of the most notable thing he said during the panel was, “If you do it and it feels like a chore, maybe find something else.”

Soon enough, he got himself a place in Buzzfeed, where he had to have his voice. He said, “They always talk about your voice. What is important to you?” and so that was what he focused on, his latin audience. One of the projects he worked on was his story on Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Even in the most tragic stories, he talked about trying to find the positive perspective; he recounted one person amidst the chaos saying, “Oh I just sat and talked with my neighbor for the first time”, he added, “you have to try and put a positive spin on it.” He continued, “Finding your voice can be hard to do but once you find it, you know exactly what you want to talk about and once you know, it’s easier to get everyone else to know.”

Students were then given a chance to ask Ivan questions. When asked what the negatives of working at BuzzFeed, he responded with some of the challenges of working there. His response was a good lesson for students to take away, you don’t say negative things about your company, you reword it into something positive. He was then asked about how the work style was, to which he described that for many of the small videos, it’s a one to two man crew setting everything up from pre-production to post-production. That meant you have to be comfortable relying on yourself and be confident in your skills.

Following your passion seems intimidating and you may not know where to start. But, as Nike says “Just do it!” Just making a product or any content is vital to start off and even if it’s not amazing at first, it will get there; but only through practice practice practice!

Iván pictured on the left

Photo Credit: Content Dev

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